


A Good Heart is the Sun and the Moon

by Methoxyethane



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura as Tomoyo, Alternate Universe - Children, Card Captor Sakura AU, Cutesy, M/M, Magical Girl Keith, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tsundere Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 09:44:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14541993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Methoxyethane/pseuds/Methoxyethane
Summary: Keith, Lance, and the ancient forces of magic unleashed on an unwitting town. (Or, a story of young love and Clow Cards.)





	A Good Heart is the Sun and the Moon

Keith was conflicted. On the one hand, he knew the Clow Cards were too much for him to deal with by himself, and having someone show up who actually knew about them - and how to stop them more importantly, since Coran was useless on that front - was objectively a good thing.

On the other hand…

“You’re weak!” The boy was shouting at Keith, waving his sword dangerously in his face. “There’s no way someone like you can stand up to Clow’s magic! No wonder you haven’t even sealed ten cards in two months, you don’t even deserve to HOLD that staff!”

On the other hand? This guy sure was a freakin’ jerk.

Keith might be better off doing this on his own, after all.

 

\--

Keith wasn’t a scaredy-cat, okay? He just had a problem with ghosts specifically, and the stupid story they’d told before everyone started out on the Test of Courage had gotten to him a little bit. It’s not like he’d have been afraid otherwise, but the ghosts and the dark cave and the everyone disappearing literally in front of his own eyes was kind of too much to handle by himself!

If Lance hadn’t been there, though, Keith probably would have been too hung up on his ghost panic to realize it was a Clow Card making everyone vanish. The guy was a know-it all glory-hogging jerk, and Keith would never forgive the first time they met when he’d straight-up tried to steal the Clow Cards Keith had worked so hard to capture just because he had some stupid ‘ _genetic right to them as Clow Reed’s direct descendant,_ ’ but. He guessed the kid wasn’t all bad after all. He’d kept Keith calm and given him an idea on how to cross the burned bridge, and he hadn’t left Keith alone.

“Here,” Keith tried to offer, holding the Erase card out to Lance. “If you hadn’t been here I wouldn’t have even known about the card, much less been able to seal it by myself. This one belongs to you.”

Lance’s eyes widened in surprise, before his face turned beet red all at once and he snapped his head away. “What are you talking about!” He huffed, kicking at the ground. “Did you forget we’re rivals? I can’t take charity when I didn’t earn it, just keep your stupid card.”

Keith hesitated. “But… you did earn it, is what I’m saying?”

Still refusing eye contact, Lance shoved Keith’s hand away and marched past him. “God just shut your piehole! They’ll all be mine in the end anyway, so for now just hang onto it.”

This guy… Keith really didn’t get him at all.

\--

Keith tugged on the frills of his outfit, cursing Allura’s obsession with using him as her personal mannequin. Her sewing projects were harmless by themselves but Keith swore he got caught in costume every time she got a new idea, and what’s worse was how often that coincided with a Clow Card attacking.

On the other hand, she was also usually right. Especially this time, where Keith had been ready to run out into a snowstorm in shorts and Allura had made him stop for a(n adorably bunny-eared) cloak and some tall socks to keep him from freezing his butt off. Or tail off, as the case may have been with this particular outfit.

He was hardly surprised when he found Lance outside too, already prepared to face tonight’s card in his own well-loved traditional battle costume. Really, at this rate the blizzard could hardly have been anything besides magic, and Lance being there was basically as good as a confirmation of a Clow Card’s presence.

Of course, not only did he show off by being able to use his magic to keep himself from sinking into the snow, but he also had that same reaction he always had when he caught Keith wearing one of Allura’s creations: turned bright red from lack of oxygen, unable to breathe through the laughter he was choking on. That’s what he claimed anyway, and Keith had no reason not to believe it was true when Lance always did whatever he could to avoid looking at Keith when he was dressed up.

He at least made up for it by being helpful. They may still be rivals technically but Lance and Keith had already started working together to seal every card, and not just because Lance didn’t have the Staff of Seals to do it himself but simply because they both knew it was the only way to get things done. This was some of the greatest magical power in the entire world, and they were kind of uh. You know. Two twelve year olds.

In the end it was Keith alone who had stopped Snow, although the idea to use Firey to do it had come from Lance’s own futile attempts. But Keith’s hadn’t been able to help himself, when he realized flying around in the blizzard had made him lose the watch that Matt had given him he just kind of lost it. At least that he didn’t have to be embarrassed about - Lance had the same crush on the high schooler Keith did, after all.

And he’d also offered… to help Keith look for the watch. They hadn’t needed to thanks to Honerva-sensei’s timely appearance with it, but the fact that Lance had offered at all? Just to make Keith feel better?

He didn’t think the other boy would admit it, but. Keith was pretty sure they were friends.

\--

 

“You idiot, what are you doing out here! You’re gonna get yourself killed like this!” Lance shouted, using his wind magic to gently lower Keith to the nearest rooftop. Oh shoot, had he fallen off his staff while flying? That would have been bad, huh? “If you’re too sick to stay awake in class then there’s no WAY you can fight a Clow Card like this!”

Keith tottered to his feet, a worried Coran hovering nearby like he might actually be able to support Keith’s weight with his tiny plush body if he fell again. “It’s fine,” Keith denied, pretending he wasn’t using his staff as a cane for a few seconds there to stand upright. “You can’t seal the card without my staff, so I have to be here. It’s my responsibility.”

“It’s just the Cloud Card!” Lance shouted at him, flailing. “It’s not even DOING anything, you don’t have to die to seal it!”

“I already made up my mind to collect all the cards,” was all Keith said back.

Lance’s face turned red again, presumably with frustration at Keith’s unending stubbornness. He whipped around to face the storm with sword in hand, calling back to Keith that he should just hold still and let him take care of everything.

Of course, even having said that, when they sealed the card together Lance tried to hand the Cloud to Keith. “You almost died coming out here to seal this thing, you might as well be the one to keep it.”

“No way,” Keith sniffled through a cough. “It’s yours for sure. Call it even for refusing to take Erase from me.”

Instead of reacting to Keith, Lance growled and snatched Coran from where he was hovering in the air. “Would you just get him home in bed already, useless guardian?!”

(He ended up walking Keith home just in case.)

\--

Okay in retrospect, grabbing Lance by the hands and spinning him in a delighted circle may have been a little inconsiderate of the boy’s injuries. But Keith had been under a lot of stress in the last few hours, and just when he’d thought it was all over because they’d sealed the final missing Clow Card! But then Matt turned out to be a magic gremlin who was actually called Pidge and then proceeded to test an EXTREMELY unprepared Lance and Keith on their worthiness to master the Clow Cards when Keith didn’t really want to be anyone’s master in the first place, and Keith had been so close to losing everything…

The world he’d seen, the one where none of them had ever been united by the Clow? It was just so cold and empty. Keith still had his dad and brother Shiro and he was even still friends with Allura, but somehow every second of that dream had been filled with loneliness. There was no Coran, no Matt, and… Lance hadn’t even ever had a reason to come to Tomoeda and meet them in the first place. Keith would have lost three entire friends and never even _known_ about it.

He still didn’t know what was going to happen now, especially with Matt and Pidge being what seemed to be two people sharing one magical body.

But for right now, Allura was here with video camera in hand, chattering excitedly as Coran did victory poses for her in his new, significantly more lion-sized form and Honerva-sensei was escorting a sleeping Matt to a bench, and… Lance was laughing, smiling at Keith as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants from where he’d fallen.

Things were gonna be okay.

\--

Not knowing what was going on anymore was really scary. Being responsible for releasing dangerous ancient magics all over town was bad enough, but at least Keith had been able to understand what was going on. Now weird things like attacking pianos and localized monsoons were happening all over town and Coran and Pidge were clueless as to why, completely unable to help Keith in the face of his inert Clow Cards.

And it was so tiring, transforming the cards into his own magic so he could use them again. Keith was exhausted all the time and never knew when something else horrible and random was going to go wrong and force him to convert even more. It was all so stressful…

On the plus side, this meant Lance hadn’t gone home to Hong Kong like he was supposed to. Keith knew it was selfish to want him around when he had his own life and problems back home, but it was nice having someone by his side to panic to when things went sideways. Or you know. Cast a spare water magic spell as the situation may call for it.

The Sword was a familiar weight in Keith’s hand, even when it was made from his new Star Staff. “Frick, I’m sorry!” Lance was apologizing as his body was forced into an attack, his own sword hitting Keith’s with a loud metallic ringing. “Something is pulling me, I can’t stop it!”

It was taking all of Keith’s concentration just to defend, nevermind thinking of a way to stop Lance without hurting him. Lance managed to regain enough control over his own limbs to cast an ice dragon, revealing the myriad of barely-visible threads wrapped around his body like marionette strings.

Cutting them with the Sword was easy enough once Keith knew about them, but he’d still ended up converting the Fight Card too just to catch puppet-Lance long enough to cut his strings. In the end it had been Keith who was too exhausted to stand after that, needing Lance to catch him when the cards sapped too much of Keith’s energy to stand.

Keith may not have understood what was happening to his town or his life anymore, but at least he wasn’t alone.

\--

The elevator was still dark when Keith floated back up the shaft to meet Lance, and it would still be another minute or two before it moved again.

Keith didn’t mind. Considering he’d almost died again he was having a pretty good day - he and Allura had met Lance and Lotor at the train station to come to the Teddy Bear exhibit with time to spare to have lunch in the city first, and it was the first time he’d ever had plans to just hang out with Lance no-magic involved. It was proof they really were friends after all, and everyone had had so much fun together. At least, until Keith had made the mistake of asking about the homemade doll Lance had made and who he planned on giving it to, which had embarrassed the other boy enough for him to dash off to the elevators to try and hide his blush.

“Thank you, Lance,” Keith said meaningfully, barely meeting the other boy’s eyes as he landed on solid ground. “If I’d been alone when the power went out, I’d have panicked and tried to bust my way out of the elevator for sure.”

“I didn’t even do anything,” Lance demurred in that way he did where he was too shy to meet Keith’s gaze. “You could have cast a fire or light spell yourself just as easily, all I could do was watch you fall.”

Keith didn’t let his smile waver. “Yeah, but… I heard you call my name. When I did fall, I mean. Just hearing your voice was enough to give me strength to save myself.”

The power came back on just as Lance was stuttering out his mumbled response, but Keith heard it anyway. “...Seems like just shouting your name is all I CAN do anymore.”

\--

The sun was already going down, and the metal squeak of playground swings was the only sound for the first few long minutes.

“I told Matt today. That I liked him,” Keith started quietly.

Lance didn’t say anything in return, just waited for Keith to continue with a silent nod of acknowledgement.

“But he said he wasn’t really the person I like the most. He asked me if the feelings I had for him felt the same as the feelings I have for Dad or my brother… and I realized he was right. But… that isn’t all I feel, either.”

He felt himself choking on his breath, taking a deep shuddering inhale so he could continue. “I really do like him so much… but I know the person he likes most in this world is Shiro. And even though what I really want is for both of them to be happy…” He tried to chuckle lightly, but it just ended in a sniffle of unshed tears. “But it still really sucks when the person you like tells you they like someone else, you know? It still sucks so bad.”

Lance stood up from his own swing, just about the same time Keith ducked down his head to let the tears fall into the worn playground sand. “I get it,” Lance said, holding out his hand to Keith. “I really do get how much it sucks.”

When he looked up, Lance was smiling at him, gentle and warm. Keith accepted his hand, allowing himself to be pulled into standing. And then he leaned into Lance, and accepted the hug he was offering as well.

“Matt said to me,” Keith admitted between quiet tears. “He told me that I would find someone I care about more than anybody. And then when I did, that person would care for me more than anyone else in the world.”

“I’m sure you’ll find them,” Lance said, quietly.

His voice was steady and reassuring, and Keith could feel his heartbeat was steady and strong in his chest.

\--

It was over. Everything was over and Lance was leaving to go back to Hong Kong and Keith had no idea what to do.

What kind of jerk confessed is love and then just ran off to another COUNTRY? That was a coward’s move, Lance! He wasn’t supposed to BE a wuss, Lance was the person who had come to this country ready for a fight and never backed down from anything, not… He wasn’t supposed to fall in love with Keith and he certainly wasn’t supposed to just up and LEAVE.

Keith still had no idea how he himself felt, either… He was still in the process of getting over his first love, and had never even considered Lance in a romantic way. And then he’d confessed his love right the instant they were safe from Clow Reed… or Lotor, who was the reincarnation of Clow?… Er, the instant the last card was transformed and the town was safe from the magic darkness.

Not great timing on any front, basically.

He and Lance had just gotten close as friends, too, and now he was already going to be leaving forever. They’d be able to keep in touch through phone calls and emails and things, but Hong Kong and Tomoeda were so far away from each other, and they were still only in middle school… It would be so easy to lose contact and never see each other again.

He didn’t wanna lose Lance. He didn’t know what his feelings for the other boy were yet, hadn’t had any chance to give him a proper answer to the confession. Would that be how it ended? Was… was even the magic of the Clow Cards not enough power to let Keith keep someone precious in his life?

And then, Allura called. In the middle of everything she called to tell Keith that Lance was leaving TONIGHT, that he wasn’t even staying long enough for anyone to say goodbye, wasn’t even going to give Keith the chance to see him one more time and tell him… Would never be able to give Lance an answer at all, he was leaving and it was now and Keith was going to be alone…

Keith’s heart ached, chest gone tight with another unreleased sob of refused crying. When a single tear managed to escape to roll down Keith’s cheek his magic activated with it, a a circle of light appearing under Keith’s surprised feet in the middle of his bedroom.

When he turned around the new card that had manifested into his hand, Keith’s sadness melted away into a soft, barely-there smile, and he let himself cry freely.

The single word labeling the bottom of the card’s image was ‘Hope.’

Keith scrubbed at his eyes. No time for crying.  He had to get to the airport.

\--

-

Spring of the first year of high school was an exciting time for any young person. The trees were all blooming beautifully, and Keith was in the same class as Allura again which meant there was no way it wouldn’t be a great year.

He’d gotten a letter from Honerva-sensei and Lotor too, who were both living in a house in England. The nature of their relationship would always be a source of confusion for Keith, but as long as his friends were happy little details like WHY they were living together didn’t matter much.

Lance hadn’t sent Keith anything new in a while, which was a little sad but nothing he was worried about. Their friendship was too important to both of them, after all. Still, it was a shame the other boy was missing these beautiful cherry blossoms, he was such a hopeless romantic Keith knew he’d love them.

For a second on his way to school, Keith’s eyes tricked him into thinking he saw Matt on the sidewalk near the gates. Which was absurd, Matt wasn’t even IN high school anymore. Keith had just seen him this morning meeting Shiro so they could go to work together.

Keith’s breathe seized in his throat when he realized what it was he was seeing. Before he knew he was going to do it he was already running, dashing forward to throw his body into a leap. Lance caught him with ease, having grown even taller than Keith had in the two years since they’d been apart and fully prepared to bear Keith’s weight.

(Keith ended up late for his first day of school.)


End file.
